Page 29 of Kisses

Stumbling over my words, I say, “Uh.Um. Drinking a glass of water.”

She folds her arms in front of her chest and says, “It looks like you’re being nosey to me.”

Not sure how to handle this moment of snooping, I nervously grin, “You caught me.”

She rolls her eyes and says, “Typical investigator. You see an opening to look at something, you have to check it out.”

“I’m sorry. I hit the table and your laptop fired up. Why don’t you have the lock screen on?”

“As you know, when an idea hits, screwing around with a password can delay the thought process. Plus, I am home and it’s just me. If Kandace is home, I really don’t care if she looks. You, on the other hand, are a different story.”

“Again, I’m sorry.” I pause to question, “Can I ask you something?”

She sighs, “Let me guess? Why am I writing about Omaha’s notorious mass killer?”

“Yeah, I haven’t had a student tap into this one without the resources for it.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Does it have something to do with your mom?”

“Excuse me?”

“You have the word mom in a heart. Was she a victim?”

Her face becomes flush. She walks over to the table, grabs her laptop and notes, and says, “This conversation is done. I don’t appreciate you asking questions about Maddox and my mom’s association with him.”

I hit a sour spot with her. I stand up, grab her and wrap my arms around her. I whisper, “I’m sorry to pry. It’s what I do.”

She shrugs away from me and bawls, “Stop trying to get close to me. This is just sex. This can never happen.”

“It already has.”

“We agreed to just sex.”

“I know. I want to know you. It’s what I do when I am interested in something.”

“I’m not a story.”

“No, you’re not.”

She sighs, “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

I’m not going to fight her on this. She is pretty upset with me. If I want to see her again, I have to give her space. If she keeps sticking to the sex card, then so be it.

I nod, “Okay, I’ll leave.”

“Thank you,” she cries.

I am not sure what is going on with that. I have really upset her and that is not sitting well with me right now. I head to her bedroom to get my clothes. She doesn’t even follow me. I start to get dressed. I hear clicking around in the kitchen. There is a story there. Just wish she would tell me. However, we don’t know each other yet. Of course, she doesn’t feel comfortable telling me about it.

After dressing, I head down the stairs. She is still in the kitchen. This time, grabbing a cup from the cabinet. The smell of toasted hazelnut fills the room. Without saying a word, I walk over to her. She ignores me while she pours a cup of coffee. I grab her cup from her and set it on the counter. Her expression is pure annoyance. I caress her face and lean in for a kiss. Our tongues interlock. Our kiss is sensual and delicate. I pull away from her, this time planting a kiss on her forehead. She just stares at me. No words from either one of us. I hand her back her coffee and leave her home. I’m going to give her some time and not push it.

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